Denver Nuggets Could Offer A Compelling Trade Package For Anthony Davis -- But Will They?

Would the Denver Nuggets be willing to take a gamble on Anthony Davis? (AP Photo/Veronica Dominach)ASSOCIATED PRESS

It’s official: Anthony Davis wants out of New Orleans.

In the first, and surely the biggest and loudest so called “Woj Bomb” of the NBA trade deadline season, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the story that Davis, through his agent Rich Paul, has informed the New Orleans Pelicans he will not sign an extension, and has requested a trade:

Agent Rich Paul has notified the New Orleans Pelicans that All-NBA forward Anthony Davis has no intention of signing a contract extension if and when presented and that he has requested a trade, Paul told ESPN on Monday.

While it had not been clear that Davis would make his wishes known this publicly and explicitly before the February 7 trade deadline, it comes as little surprise as the rumor mill had been buzzing for months that the soon-to-be six-time All-Star big man wanted to find his way to a newteam, with an ostensible preference for LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers, or alternately the Boston Celticsas potential destinations.

But in a twist that might shine a ray of hope for teams other than the Lakers and Celtics, Marc Stein of the New York Times reported that Paul did not inform New Orleans of any specific teams he desired to be traded to:

Anthony Davis' agent Rich Paul tells @NYTSports he has NOT given the Pelicans a preferred trade destination for Davis. But Davis' July 2020 free agency obviously gives hm huge say in where he lands since no team will surrender meaningful assets for a player it can't re-sign

In addition, Wojnarowski added that Paul told ESPN that Davis “wants to be traded to a team that allows him the chance to win consistently and compete for a championship.”

This would seem to open the flood gates for teams around the league to start putting together trade packages and pitching offers to the Pelicans – if they are willing to risk losing assets in a potential deal should Davis decline to extend his contract.

Could the Denver Nuggets be one of those teams? They can certainly jump into the fray if they choose to.

Denver is stacked with a deep stockpile of young, talented players, some established such as Gary Harris, others still in development like rookie Michael Porter Jr. who has yet to play his first NBA game due to injury. Importantly, the Nuggets also can match Davis’ $25.4 million salary with Paul Millsap’s $29.2 million which, with its team option on 2019-20, is effectively an expiring contract.

Other bidders will have more appealing draft picks available to put on the table. Denver’s 2019 first round pick was dealt to the Brooklyn Nets in the trade of Kenneth Faried and Darrell Arthur, and given that it is only top 12 protected, is practically guaranteed to transfer as the Nuggets are currently at second place in the Western Conference. Projecting out their current winning trajectory, their 2020 first round pick will likely be in the twenties – which it seems safe to assume is not what the Pelicans will be hoping for.

On the other hand, some combination of the as-yet-untested rookies Porter and Jarred Vanderbilt, a promising young player like Malik Beasley or a vetted, but still 24-year-old known quantity like Harris could round out a trade package with a better complement of players than most competing teams will be able to offer.

It remains to be seen what New Orleans will be asking for specifically, but conventional wisdom would suggest it will be the usual combination of draft picks, young talent and salary cap relief.

The Nuggets have more to offer than most other teams on the latter two counts, but whether the Pelicans would consider that enough for one of the NBA’s best players is an open question.

But the perhaps more intriguing question is one only Denver can answer: How much would the Nuggets risk to take a swing on Anthony Davis?

As I wrote for Forbes last week, given how much the Nuggets organization loves their current crop of players, and the pride they take in the overachieving success of their young, developing roster, it has seemed highly unlikely that they would make any big moves at the trade deadline, opting instead to stay patient, avoid skipping steps and let the team as currently constructed grow into a contendere on its own natural development curve.

Presumably neither Nikola Jokic nor Jamal Murray, the dynamic duo at the heart of Denver’s core, will be put on the trade block. That leaves some very good players to work with, but it is questionable if New Orleans will value them as highly as the Nuggets do.

Then there’s the flight risk. Given the track the Nuggets are currently on, they have a legitimate chance to be in title contention within several years with their current roster, give or take a tweak or two. If they traded too big a chunk of it to land Davis, they could jeopardize the whole enterprise by making a similar mistake the New York Knicks made when they gutted their roster to trade for Carmelo Anthony.

In the past, president of basketball operations Tim Connelly has repeatedly spoken of taking an aggressive approach to negotiations at the trade deadline and in the offseason. At a minimum, it is reasonable to expect that he will be getting on the phone and exploring the potential parameters of a deal.

But the Nuggets have been in a happy place this season, reveling in the growth of the roster that Connelly built and excited about the possibilities for how far it can go. Breaking up the band, even to land a superstar, would be a difficult and painful decision to make.

On the other hand, when a general manager gets a chance to land a game-changing player of Davis’ caliber, it is practically implied in the job description that it would be negligent not to at least kick the wheels on a deal. And the example of Paul George having a change of heart after being traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder could embolden a move in this direction.

With all the risks and variables in play, it is impossible at this early stage to predict what, if anything, the Nuggets will do on the Anthony Davis trade front.

But with their arsenal of assets, the Nuggets are sure to be in the thick of the rumors, and have as much potential as nearly any other team to be a major player in the negotiations.

I am a Colorado native living in Japan, and a contributor to Forbes writing about the Denver Nuggets. Follow me on Twitter at @JoelRushNBA, where questions and comments are welcome!

I have covered the Nuggets since 2005, writing for Forbes, BSN Denver, Roundball Mining Company, and my blog The Nuggets Den. “Passing makes two people happy. Scoring only makes one person happy.” --Nikola Jokic. You can find me on Twitter at @JoelRushNBA, where my views ar...